The present invention relates to packs for smoking articles.
According to the present invention there is provided a pack for elongate smoking articles comprising a lid hingedly connected to a body, both the lid and the body each having front, rear and a pair of side panels, the lid having a top panel remote from the body which has a base panel remote from the lid, said hinge connection being defined by a fold between the rear lid panel and the rear body panel and being substantially parallel to the top and bottom edges of the pack, the front of the pack having a portion that is cut away to reveal a backing member disposed within the pack and the hinge connection also being substantially parallel to an imaginary line extending between the lowermost points of the side edges of the front of the lid.
The cut-away portion may be located in the body front panel or the lid front panel or in a combination of both. Where there is no cutaway portion in the lid then said imaginary line coincides with the lowermost edge of the lid front panel. In many embodiments the cutaway portion is enclosed on all sides by the front panels of the body and/or lid.
Preferably at least some of the edges defining the cut-away portion have sections folded inwardly of the body so that the backing member is more inwardly recessed behind the body front panel. In further preferred arrangements all of the edges defining the cut-away portion have inwardly folded sections, no cut edges therefore being presented by the cut-away portion.
In some arrangements the upper extremity of the cut-away portion is closed by the lower edge of the front lid panel when the pack is closed, the lower edge of the front lid panel abutting the upper edge of the front body panel. Conveniently the backing member is formed integrally with and is hingedly connected with respect to the upper edge of the front body panel.
A preferred feature is that the backing member is connected to the upper edge of the front body panel by means of two spaced tabs which form Z-folds.
In certain embodiments the cut-away portion is defined wholly within the front body panel. In other arrangements the cut-away portion borders on the upper edge of the front body panel so that the cut-away portion is open at its upper extremity.
Preferably the backing member is also connected to a lower edge of the cut-away portion by means of an intermediate tab which also forms a parallel Z-fold, the longitudinal depth of the intermediate tab being substantially the same as that of the two spaced tabs. Also, the cut-away portion has a pair of lateral edges extending between respective ends of the lower edge of the cut-away portion and the upper edge of the front body panel such that the cut-away portion is defined by its lateral edges and its lower edge. Preferably said lateral edges have sections folded inwardly of the body and in some cases the intermediate tab extends for the full lateral width of the lower edge of the cut-away portion.
Conveniently the backing member is hingedly connected to side members which lie inwardly of the respective body side panels and project upwardly therefrom. Ideally, the part of the backing member which lies behind the cut-away portion of the front body panel has printed matter thereon.
With some embodiments there is also an inner frame provided in the body of the pack.
In some packs, adjacent side, front and rear panels meet each other at right angles. In others, adjacent side, front and rear panels are interconnected by means of sub-panels such as lengthwise bevel panels or lengthwise contoured panels which may incorporate a number of parallel, lengthwise extending score lines.